The past decade has been a period of enormous growth in the field of research synthesis. The second edition Handbook thoroughly revises original chapters to assure that the volume remains the most authoritative source of information for researchers undertaking meta-analysis today. In response to the increasing use of research synthesis in the formation of public policy, the second edition includes a new chapter on both the strengths and limitations of research synthesis in policy debates and decisions. Another new chapter looks at computing effect sizes and standard errors from clustered data, such as schools or clinics. Authors also discuss updated techniques for locating hard-to-find "fugitive" literature, ways of systematically assessing the quality of a study, and progress in statistical methods for detecting and estimating the effects of publication bias

Praise for the first edition: “The Handbook is a comprehensive treatment of literature synthesis and provides practical advice for anyone deep in the throes of, just teetering on the brink of, or attempting to decipher a meta-analysis. Given the expanding application and importance of literature synthesis, understanding both its strengths and weaknesses is essential for its practitioners and consumers. This volume is a good beginning for those who wish to gain that understanding.” —Chance “Meta-analysis, as the statistical analysis of a large collection of results from individual studies is called, has now achieved a status of respectability in medicine. This respectability, when combined with the slight hint of mystique that sometimes surrounds meta-analysis, ensures that results of studies that use it are treated with the respect they deserve....The Handbook of Research Synthesis is one of the most important publications in this subject both as a definitive reference book and a practical manual.”—British Medical Journal When the first edition of The Handbook of Research Synthesis was published in 1994, it quickly became the definitive reference for researchers conducting meta-analyses of existing research in both the social and biological sciences. In this fully revised second edition, editors Harris Cooper, Larry Hedges, and Jeff Valentine present updated versions of the Handbook’s classic chapters, as well as entirely new sections reporting on the most recent, cutting-edge developments in the field. Research synthesis is the practice of systematically distilling and integrating data from a variety of sources in order to draw more reliable conclusions about a given question or topic. The Handbook of Research Synthesis and Meta-Analysis draws upon years of groundbreaking advances that have transformed research synthesis from a narrative craft into an important scientific process in its own right. Cooper, Hedges, and Valentine have assembled leading authorities in the field to guide the reader through every stage of the research synthesis process—problem formulation, literature search and evaluation, statistical integration, and report preparation. The Handbook of Research Synthesis and Meta-Analysis incorporates state-of-the-art techniques from all quantitative synthesis traditions. Distilling a vast technical literature and many informal sources, the Handbook provides a portfolio of the most effective solutions to the problems of quantitative data integration. Among the statistical issues addressed by the authors are the synthesis of non-independent data sets, fixed and random effects methods, the performance of sensitivity analyses and model assessments, and the problem of missing data. The Handbook of Research Synthesis and Meta-Analysis also provides a rich treatment of the non-statistical aspects of research synthesis. Topics include searching the literature, and developing schemes for gathering information from study reports. Those engaged in research synthesis will also find useful advice on how tables, graphs, and narration can be used to provide the most meaningful communication of the results of research synthesis. In addition, the editors address the potentials and limitations of research synthesis, and its future directions. The past decade has been a period of enormous growth in the field of research synthesis. The second edition Handbook thoroughly revises original chapters to assure that the volume remains the most authoritative source of information for researchers undertaking meta-analysis today. In response to the increasing use of research synthesis in the formation of public policy, the second edition includes a new chapter on both the strengths and limitations of research synthesis in policy debates

“The Handbook is a comprehensive treatment of literature synthesis and provides practical advice for anyone deep in the throes of, just teetering on the brink of, or attempting to decipher a meta-analysis. Given the expanding application and importance of literature synthesis, understanding both its strengths and weaknesses is essential for its practitioners and consumers. This volume is a good beginning for those who wish to gain that understanding.” —Chance “Meta-analysis, as the statistical analysis of a large collection of results from individual studies is called, has now achieved a status of respectability in medicine. This respectability, when combined with the slight hint of mystique that sometimes surrounds meta-analysis, ensures that results of studies that use it are treated with the respect they deserve....The Handbook of Research Synthesis is one of the most important publications in this subject both as a definitive reference book and a practical manual.”—British Medical Journal The Handbook of Research Synthesis is the definitive reference and how-to manual for behavioral and medical scientists applying the craft of research synthesis. It draws upon twenty years of ground-breaking advances that have transformed the practice of synthesizing research literature from an art into a scientific process in its own right. Editors Harris Cooper and Larry V. Hedges have brought together leading authorities to guide the reader through every stage of the research synthesis process—problem formulation, literature search and evaluation, statistical integration, and report preparation. The Handbook of Research Synthesis incorporates in a single volume state-of-the-art techniques from all quantitative synthesis traditions, including Bayesian inference and the meta-analytic approaches. Distilling a vast technical literature and many informal sources, the Handbook provides a portfolio of the most effective solutions to problems of quantitative data integration. The Handbook of Research Synthesis also provides a rich treatment of the non-statistical aspects of research synthesis. Topics include searching the literature, managing reference databases and registries, and developing coding schemes. Those engaged in research synthesis will also find useful advice on how tables, graphs, and narration can be deployed to provide the most meaningful communication of the results of research synthesis. The Handbook of Research Synthesis is an illuminating compilation of practical instruction, theory, and problem solving. It provides an accumulation of knowledge about the craft of reviewing a scientific literature that can be found in no other single source. The Handbook offers the reader thorough instruction in the skills necessary to conduct powerful research syntheses meeting the highest standards of objectivity, systematicity, and rigor demanded of scientific enquiry. This definitive work will represent the state of the art in research synthesis for years to come.

Meta-analysis is a powerful statistical methodology for synthesizing research evidence across independent studies. This is the first comprehensive handbook of meta-analysis written specifically for ecologists and evolutionary biologists, and it provides an invaluable introduction for beginners as well as an up-to-date guide for experienced meta-analysts. The chapters, written by renowned experts, walk readers through every step of meta-analysis, from problem formulation to the presentation of the results. The handbook identifies both the advantages of using meta-analysis for research synthesis and the potential pitfalls and limitations of meta-analysis (including when it should not be used). Different approaches to carrying out a meta-analysis are described, and include moment and least-square, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian approaches, all illustrated using worked examples based on real biological datasets. This one-of-a-kind resource is uniquely tailored to the biological sciences, and will provide an invaluable text for practitioners from graduate students and senior scientists to policymakers in conservation and environmental management. Walks you through every step of carrying out a meta-analysis in ecology and evolutionary biology, from problem formulation to result presentation Brings together experts from a broad range of fields Shows how to avoid, minimize, or resolve pitfalls such as missing data, publication bias, varying data quality, nonindependence of observations, and phylogenetic dependencies among species Helps you choose the right software Draws on numerous examples based on real biological datasets

Praise for Meta-Analysis for Public Management and Policy "In his usual rigorous but readable style, Evan Ringquist andco-author Mary Anderson have produced a tour-de-force on the topicof meta-analysis in public policy and managementresearch. Meta-analysis is badly needed in the all-too-commonsituation when researchers have low confidence in summarizing theoverall results of dozens of studies on the effectiveness of somepolicy. This book has a nice combination of conceptualoverview, methodological details, and applications that will makeit possible for researchers to conduct their ownmeta-analysis. It is tempting to require all graduate studentsto write a meta-analysis as a chapter in their dissertation, orinclude meta-analysis as a standard offering in the researchmethods curriculum of social science graduate programs. Themore people that adopt Ringquist and Anderson's approach, the lessresources will be wasted on conducting studies that do notcontribute to cumulative scientific knowledge. " —Mark Lubell Department of Environmental Science and Policy Director, Center for Environmental Policy and Behavior Universityof California-Davis “Ringquist and his colleagues deliver value and add tocanon of public management methods by delivering an analyticalframework that makes the case for systematic research using thetools of meta-analysis. This book will be a must read for allcommitted to strengthening evidence-based research that improvespublic policy and management decision making.” —David M. Van Slyke The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs SyracuseUniversity “In Meta-Analysis for Public Management and Policy EvanRingquist and his colleagues provide a lucid and practical roadmapfor policy and public management scholars who use meta-analysis intheir research. But this is more than a “how to”volume; it provides background on why meta-analysis is a potentmeans for accumulating and synthesizing empirical researchfindings, and shows how its use has evolved in recent decades.Specific applications of meta-analysis to long-standing policy andmanagement debates are given, essentially providing an array ofdeveloped “templates” through which scholars andpractitioners can assess how to approach different kinds ofanalytical problems using meta-analysis. Particularly valuable tome is the careful development and presentation of the necessarystages of meta-analysis, from conceptualization through data codingand bias assessment to advanced modeling. All of the statisticalanalyses can be conducted in Stata, utilizing readily available“.ado” modules. I will use this book, both inresearch and in the classroom. Overall it is one of the most usefulmethodological contributions I’ve seen in sometime.” —Hank Jenkins-Smith Department of Political Science Director, Center for Applied SocialResearch University of Oklahoma “Meta-Analysis for Public Management and Policy conveysthe considerable untapped potential of meta-analysis to strengthenand advance bodies of knowledge and evidence in public managementand policy. This book takes students and researchers deepinto the methods of meta-analysis and details of their empiricalapplication, without losing sight of the important policy questionsand the implications of choices that researchers make in theirempirical work for the production of evidence for public managersand policymakers. This book will serve as an excellentpractical guide for those conducting their first meta-analysis,while at the same time supporting critically-focused consumption ofexisting meta-analyses and discussion of where the field cangainfully take this approach to enhance our research and knowledgebases. It draws in a range of valuable and important examplesof applications of meta-analysis techniques throughout the book androunds off with four full-fledged applications of themethod. Although the book reaches out to an audience of publicmanagement and policy researchers and consumers of this research,it should be of interest to a broad range of applied social scienceresearchers and students as well.” —Carolyn Heinrich Sid Richardson Professor of Public Affairs Director, Center forHealth and Social Policy LBJ School of Public Affairs University ofTexas – Austin “Even for incredibly specialized techniques, publicmanagement and policy scholars have a multiplicity of methods textsfrom which to choose. Yet it is truly surprising that a strongguide to applied meta-analysis — a rigorous framework for theorganization of empirical findings — has not beenavailable. Ringquist and Anderson provided just that with anaccessible guide to sophisticated techniques. Marryingan instructive text to a set of exemplary standalone studies,Meta-Analysis for Public Management and Policy offers unparalleledguidance for instructors and students and more than a little wisdomfor seasoned scholars. It is destined to become the standardreference for our field.” —Anthony Michael Bertelli CC Crawford Chair in Management and Performance USC Price School ofPublic Policy USC Gould School of Law University of SouthernCalifornia “This comprehensive treatment of meta-analysis is anexcellent guide for scholars and students in public management andpublic policy. The carefully done exposition demonstrates whymeta-analysis should have greater use in theprofession.” —Kenneth J. Meier Charles H. Gregory Chair in Liberal Arts Department of PoliticalScience Texas A&M University “This remarkable book reviews the history of the use ofmeta-analysis in the social sciences, argues forcefully for itsimportance, value, and relevance for public managers, and providesone-stop-shopping for those who want to learn how to do it orunderstand how others have done it. The detailed coverage ofeach step in the process allows a student to learn the techniquecompletely while fully understanding the logic and intellectualgoals of the enterprise. Most importantly, the authors reviewtechniques from a range of disciplines, drawing most of theirpositive suggestions from the field of medical statistics ratherthan the social sciences. The examples and applications, onthe other hand, stem from the world of government and publicpolicy. Four chapters provide new syntheses of research onindividual policies using the techniques and practices introducedin the earlier chapters. The result is original research, astrong argument for the value of meta-analysis in a field(political science and public administration) that uses it little,and a complete tool-kit for those who would want to apply thesepowerful ideas on their own. A very impressive and usefultext.” —Frank R. Baumgartner Richard J. Richardson Distinguished Professor Department ofPolitical Science University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill “Meta-analysis is a valuable tool for accumulatingknowledge about how management matters from across a range ofpolicy areas and disciplines. It is also an underused tool, inlarge part because of the lack of a comprehensive and useable guideon the topic. Ringquist remedies this problem by offering clearinstruction on how to apply the technique wisely, as well as highlyuseful empirical demonstrations. The field of public managementneeds this excellent book.” —Donald Moynihan Professor of Public Affairs University ofWisconsin-Madison “Professors and students frequently face decisions abouthow deeply to invest in a statistical procedure, a new technology,a new theory, or some other development in their discipline. The authors of Meta-Analysis for Public Management and Policysupport such a decision about meta-analysis by making a convincingcase for its value and increasing utilization, including such stepsas a careful consideration of criticisms of the method. EvanRingquist then provides clearly, engagingly written chapters on themajor concepts, procedures, and issues in the techniques ofmeta-analysis. His coauthors then provideeffectively-presented examples of meta-analytic studies about suchtopics as school voucher effectiveness, public service motivationand performance, and public sector performance management. The accessible and reader-friendly explanations, coupled with theillustrative examples that walk the reader through how to do it,make this a distinctively effective methodological text. Inso doing, it offers a distinctively valuable resource for those ofus who want to learn more about this important statisticalmethod.” —Hal Rainey Alumni Foundation Distinguished Professor Department of PublicAdministration and Policy University of Georgia “James Heckman’s Nobel lecture described thecombined influence of micro surveys, advances in computers andsoftware, and the development and dissemination of multivariatestatistical methods on applied economic research. His commentsapply equally well to empirical research throughout the socialsciences. These forces have created a “flood ofnumbers” and advances in technology since he wrote about themhave assured that the process is accelerating. We need to transformthe ways we learn from empirical analyses and create a science forthe analysis of the secondary data from applied statistical andeconometric models. This science would include methods forsummarizing what has been learned from estimates and tests. Itwould provide methods for diagnostic screening of results to gaugethe importance of modeling assumptions and the types of primarydata for the findings being reported. Finally, it may well lead tothe development of meta-models—integrating findings intendedto describe a single system but viewed thru distinctive empiricallenses. Meta-analysis is a method that takes an important step indeveloping this science. It is a collection of methods that is aproduct of the transformation in applied research in the past halfcentury. Initially much of this research was the domain of socialscientists working on the evaluation of educational interventions.In these applications the primary data from different studies wereroutinely available, but the outcome and control variables differedacross studies. As a result, the focus for these meta-analyses wason data combination with multiple, distinctive measures for assetof latent variables associated with the hypothesized underlyingprocess. The texts describing meta-analysis focused on thesesituations. As applications of meta-analysis expanded to economics,political science, and sociology, the data structures changed. Thenew data came from empirical models –as estimated parametersor summaries of test results. The challenges posed in developingthese types of data and understanding what they reveal weredistinctly different. A text developed by scholars who appreciatehow these types of summaries are different was missing untilRingquist and Anderson’s Meta Analysis for Public Managementand Policy. Explaining a process that blends the best ofqualitative and quantitative research is a challenge. This book hasmet this challenge and delivered researchers a great platform forteaching these methods to their students and for updating their ownskills. At least four features distinguish this book: 1. The authors display a clear understanding of thestrengths and the weaknesses of meta- analysis. Their treatmentdescribes how care in data construction, variable coding, relevantstatistical methods and, especially, careful attention tointerpreting the findings from a meta-analysis can reinforce thestrengths and mitigate the weaknesses. 2. There are real examples presented throughout the book alongwith a genuine understanding of the importance of the details indeveloping meta-analyses. 3. The coverage of relevant statistical methods iscomprehensive and clear. And 4. The Appendices offer the detail researchers need to see inorder to genuinely learn how to use meta analytic methods. It should be in the library of every serious teacher orpractitioner”—V. Kerry Smith Regents Professor and W.P.Carey Professor Department of Economics Arizona StateUniversity “There are several texts for meta-analysis available, mostnotably “The Handbook of Research Synthesis andMeta-Analysis” by Cooper, Hedges and Valentine, but nonespecifically directed to public administration and policyscholars. In fact the points of emphasis and examples make theexisting texts both difficult and poorly suited for the appliedsocial sciences. Ringquist’s book is a spectacularsuccess in filling this lacuna. Ringquist provides a clearer encapsulation of “thebasics” in its opening section, and the “basics”are tailored to “problem-oriented” policy sciences(noting for instance, that meta-analyses in public management andpolicy will almost always use random-effects overfixed-effects). The empirical examples woven throughout aswell as the actual analyses on PSM and school vouchers areexceptionally useful in identifying the stages of theprocess. At the same time, the book doesn’t spare thegritty details of confronting commonly required procedures, likebootstrapping and dealing with clustered robust SE, hierarchicalmodeling, etc. For readers with no exposure to meta-analysis, thetext eases the transition by offering a refresher on howstatistical techniques are used in original research, then how theydiffer when used in meta-analysis. Ringquist offers guidelines for syntheses, formulating problems,data evaluation, turning studies into data, techniques inmeta-analysis, “the language of meta-analysis”,coding strategies and publication bias. The author also notes thatthe context and even techniques of meta-analysis are different forpublic management and public policy compared with medicine andpsychology, and education. Public administration and policyanalysis provide great opportunities for meta-analysis, butthese fields also present considerable challenge. Great careis needed in synthesizing differently designed studies, which areobservational and quasi-experimental or correlational designs,because the statistics of meta-analysis were originally developedto synthesize results from experiment design. Measurement issuesare tricky because authentic scales are used less frequently thanin psychology or medical research. In addition PA and policyas fields of scholarship are diverse and eclectic in researchdesign which makes comparison of parameter estimates exceedinglydifficult. Ringquist adroitly compiles an approach to meta-analysis adapted to reflect thiscontext. While Section 1 consists of seven chapters, which discussestechniques of meta-analysis, Section 2 including Chapters 8, 9, 10and 11 illustrates actual studies using meta-analysis conducted inpublic management and policy research: evaluating the effectivenessof educational vouchers, performance management in public sector,the effects of federal poverty deconcentration efforts on economicself-sufficiency and problematic behaviors, and the relationshipbetween public service motivation and performance. The book is an easier read than other texts in it guides fromproject inception through lit review and analysis in a mannertailored to policy and management, and it actually provides a muchmore accessible and thorough coverage of many of the basic buildingblocks, random effects, r-based effect sizes, and bootstrapping,making it far more indispensable for any PA meta-analysis. The check-lists for coding articles are especially useful.Provision of Stata commands and practical data managementsuggestions (creating a command file for data set transformations,for instance) is a great advantage for this text. Adding anaddendum with R programming options, in the next edition might behelpful too. The conclusion both compelling and concise but Iwould like to have seen some of the arguments presented here at thebeginning of the book, reserving the conclusion for a fullerencapsulation of what the overall strategy of the book accomplishesin stages – rebutting criticisms that meta-analysis in socialscience is a waste of time because study estimates arenon-comparable and effect sizes non-independent with carefulexamination of research design and models. This book is essential reading for any scholar in publicadministration and policy considering undertakingmeta-analysis. I expect it will gain many readers in othersocial science disciplines as well. For serious users ofmeta-analysis Ringquist’s book will not be the only one onthe shelf, but it is a valuable addition.” —Richard Feiock Augustus B. Turnbull Professor Askew School of PublicAdministration and Policy Florida State University

The SAGE Handbook of Applied Social Research Methods, Second Edition provides students and researchers with the most comprehensive resource covering core methods, research designs, and data collection, management, and analysis issues. This thoroughly revised edition continues to place critical emphasis on finding the tools that best fit the research question given the constraints of deadlines, budget, and available staff. Each chapter offers key guidance on how to make intelligent and conscious tradeoffs so that one can refine and hone the research question as new knowledge is gained, unanticipated obstacles are encountered, or contextual shifts take place - all key elements in the iterative nature of applied research. Each chapter has been enhanced pedagogically to include more step-by-step procedures, specific, rich yet practical examples from various settings to illustrate the method, parameters to define when the method is most appropriate and when it is not appropriate, and greater use of visual aids (graphs, models, tip boxes) to provide teaching and learning tools. - twenty core chapters written by research experts that cover major methods and data analysis issues across the social and behavioral sciences, education, and management; - emphasis on applying research techniques, particularly in "real-world" settings in which there are various data, money, time, and political constraints; - new chapters on mixed methods, qualitative comparative analysis, concept mapping, and internet data collection; - a newly developed section that serves as a guide for students who are navigating through the book and attempting to translate the chapters into action; - a new Instructor's Resources CD, with relevant journal articles, test questions, and exercises to aid the instructor in developing appropriate course materials.

Click on the Supplements tab above for further details on the different versions of SPSS programs. The canonical Handbook is completely updated with more student-friendly features The Handbook of Social Work Research Methods is a cutting-edge volume that covers all the major topics that are relevant for Social Work Research methods. Edited by Bruce Thyer and containing contributions by leading authorities, this Handbook covers both qualitative and quantitative approaches as well as a section that delves into more general issues such as evidence based practice, ethics, gender, ethnicity, International Issues, integrating both approaches, and applying for grants. New to this Edition More content on qualitative methods and mixed methods More coverage of evidence-based practice More support to help students effectively use the Internet A companion Web site at www.sagepub.com/thyerhdbk2e containing a test bank and PowerPoint slides for instructors and relevant SAGE journal articles for students. This Handbook serves as a primary text in the methods courses in MSW programs and doctoral level programs. It can also be used as a reference and research design tool for anyone doing scholarly research in social work or human services.

Primary research in education and social sciences is marked by a diversity of methods and perspectives. How can we accommodate and reflect such diversity at the level of synthesizing research? What are the critical methodological decisions in the process of a research synthesis, and how do these decisions open up certain possibilities, while closing down others? This book draws upon methodologically diverse literature on research synthesis methods and primary research methods to develop a framework for synthesizing research. It presents a Methodologically Inclusive Research Synthesis framework to facilitate critical and informed decision-making among the producers and users of research synthesis. Three guiding principles for a quality research synthesis are proposed: informed subjectivity and reflexivity, purposefully informed selective inclusivity, and audience-appropriate transparency. The book then provides a thorough discussion of how these principles might be enacted in the following six phases: -identifying an appropriate epistemological orientation -identifying an appropriate purpose -searching for relevant literature -evaluating, interpreting and distilling evidence from selected studies -constructing connected understandings -communicating with an audience. A wide range of techniques and perspectives from postpositivist, interpretive, participatory, critical and postmodern traditions are considered in the book, and Suri opens up new areas of debate by exploring numerous aspects of research syntheses from a methodologically inclusive perspective. The book will be valuable reading for researchers and postgraduates in education and social sciences.

This volume provides an essential roster of primary research methods as they apply to health communication inquiry. Editor Bryan B. Whaley brings together key health communication researchers to write about their primary methodological areas. Their chapters offer guidance and insights for a variety of approaches to answering research questions. The methods included here cover: Exploration and Description: interview/focus groups, case study, ethnography, and surveys; Examining Messages and Interpersonal Exchanges: narrative analysis, conversational analysis, analyzing physician-patient interactions, social network analysis, and content analysis; Causal Explication: experimental research, meta-analysis, and meta-synthesis; and Cultural, Population, and Critical Concerns: rhetorical methods and criticism, and methodological issues when investigating stigmatized populations, and groups with health disparities. Chapters cite or use examples from allied health areas -- nursing, public health, sociology, medicine -- to demonstrate the breadth of health communication studies. This work highlights the importance of methodology in health communication research in multiple contexts. Developed to provide a fundamental reference for investigating health communication, this volume will serve as an invaluable tool for researchers and students across the social science and health disciplines.

Reflecting the growth and increasing global importance of the Spanish language, The Handbook of Hispanic Linguistics brings together a team of renowned Spanish linguistics scholars to explore both applied and theoretical work in this field. Features 41 newly-written essays contributed by leading language scholars that shed new light on the growth and significance of the Spanish language Combines current applied and theoretical research results in the field of Spanish linguistics Explores all facets relating to the origins, evolution, and geographical variations of the Spanish language Examines topics including second language learning, Spanish in the classroom, immigration, heritage languages, and bilingualism

"Highly recommended."--Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries This handbook is the definitive resource for scholars and students interested in how research and theory within each of the major domains of psychologyódevelopmental, cognitive, personality, and socialóhave been applied to understand the nature of scientific thought and behavior. Edited by two esteemed pioneers in the emerging discipline of the psychology of science, it is the first empirically based compendium of its time. The handbook provides a comprehensive examination of how scientific thinking is learned and evolves from infancy to adolescence and adulthood, and combines developmental and cognitive approaches to show the categorical similarities and differences in thinking between children, adolescents, adults, and scientists. Chapters highlight the breadth and depth of psychological perspectives in the studies of science, from creativity and genius, gender, and conflict and cooperation, to postmodernism and psychobiography. A section on applications offers findings and ideas that can be put to use by educators, policymakers, and science administrators. Contributors examine the importance of mental models in solving difficult technical problems, and the significance of leadership and organizational structure in successful innovation. The final section of the book is devoted to the future of this new field, focusing on how to continue to develop a healthy psychology of science. Key Features: Presents the only empirically based compendium of current knowledge about the psychology of scientific thought and behavior Edited by two pioneers in the discipline of psychology of science Describes how scientific thinking is learned and changes throughout the life span Addresses creativity and genius, gender, conflict and cooperation, postmodernism, and psychobiography Covers applications of the psychology of science that can be used by educators, policymakers, and science administrators

The golden standard evaluation reference text Now in its second edition, Evaluation Theory, Models, andApplications is the vital text on evaluation models, perfectfor classroom use as a textbook, and as a professional evaluationreference. The book begins with an overview of the evaluation fieldand program evaluation standards, and proceeds to cover the mostwidely used evaluation approaches. With new evaluation designs andthe inclusion of the latest literature from the field, thisSecond Edition is an essential update for professionals andstudents who want to stay current. Understanding and choosingevaluation approaches is critical to many professions, andEvaluation Theory, Models, and Applications, Second Editionis the benchmark evaluation guide. Authors Daniel L. Stufflebeam and Chris L. S. Coryn, widelyconsidered experts in the evaluation field, introduce and describe23 program evaluation approaches, including, new to this edition,transformative evaluation, participatory evaluation, consumerfeedback, and meta-analysis. Evaluation Theory, Models, andApplications, Second Edition facilitates the process ofplanning, conducting, and assessing program evaluations. Thehighlighted evaluation approaches include: Experimental and quasi-experimental design evaluations Daniel L. Stufflebeam's CIPP Model Michael Scriven's Consumer-Oriented Evaluation Michael Patton's Utilization-Focused Evaluation Robert Stake's Responsive/Stakeholder-Centered Evaluation Case Study Evaluation Key readings listed at the end of each chapter direct readers tothe most important references for each topic. Learning objectives,review questions, student exercises, and instructor supportmaterials complete the collection of tools. Choosing fromevaluation approaches can be an overwhelming process, butEvaluation Theory, Models, and Applications, Second Editionupdates the core evaluation concepts with the latest research,making this complex field accessible in just one book.

The Handbook of Applied Social Research Methods shows how to make intelligent and conscious decisions so that researchers can refine and hone their research questions as new knowledge is gained, unanticipated obstacles are encountered, or contextual shifts take place - all key elements in the iterative nature of applied research. With examples and illustrations from the authors' own experiences, this book gives readers a practical guide to conducting applied research.

The application and interpretation of statistics are central to ecological study and practice. Ecologists are now asking more sophisticated questions than in the past. These new questions, together with the continued growth of computing power and the availability of new software, have created a new generation of statistical techniques. These have resulted in major recent developments in both our understanding and practice of ecological statistics. This novel book synthesizes a number of these changes, addressing key approaches and issues that tend to be overlooked in other books such as missing/censored data, correlation structure of data, heterogeneous data, and complex causal relationships. These issues characterize a large proportion of ecological data, but most ecologists' training in traditional statistics simply does not provide them with adequate preparation to handle the associated challenges. Uniquely, Ecological Statistics highlights the underlying links among many statistical approaches that attempt to tackle these issues. In particular, it gives readers an introduction to approaches to inference, likelihoods, generalized linear (mixed) models, spatially or phylogenetically-structured data, and data synthesis, with a strong emphasis on conceptual understanding and subsequent application to data analysis. Written by a team of practicing ecologists, mathematical explanations have been kept to the minimum necessary. This user-friendly textbook will be suitable for graduate students, researchers, and practitioners in the fields of ecology, evolution, environmental studies, and computational biology who are interested in updating their statistical tool kits. A companion web site provides example data sets and commented code in the R language.

This book provides a clear and thorough introduction to meta-analysis, the process of synthesizing data from a series of separate studies. Meta-analysis has become a critically important tool in fields as diverse as medicine, pharmacology, epidemiology, education, psychology, business, and ecology. Introduction to Meta-Analysis: Outlines the role of meta-analysis in the research process Shows how to compute effects sizes and treatment effects Explains the fixed-effect and random-effects models for synthesizing data Demonstrates how to assess and interpret variation in effect size across studies Clarifies concepts using text and figures, followed by formulas and examples Explains how to avoid common mistakes in meta-analysis Discusses controversies in meta-analysis Features a web site with additional material and exercises A superb combination of lucid prose and informative graphics, written by four of the world’s leading experts on all aspects of meta-analysis. Borenstein, Hedges, Higgins, and Rothstein provide a refreshing departure from cookbook approaches with their clear explanations of the what and why of meta-analysis. The book is ideal as a course textbook or for self-study. My students, who used pre-publication versions of some of the chapters, raved about the clarity of the explanations and examples. David Rindskopf, Distinguished Professor of Educational Psychology, City University of New York, Graduate School and University Center, & Editor of the Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics. The approach taken by Introduction to Meta-analysis is intended to be primarily conceptual, and it is amazingly successful at achieving that goal. The reader can comfortably skip the formulas and still understand their application and underlying motivation. For the more statistically sophisticated reader, the relevant formulas and worked examples provide a superb practical guide to performing a meta-analysis. The book provides an eclectic mix of examples from education, social science, biomedical studies, and even ecology. For anyone considering leading a course in meta-analysis, or pursuing self-directed study, Introduction to Meta-analysis would be a clear first choice. Jesse A. Berlin, ScD Introduction to Meta-Analysis is an excellent resource for novices and experts alike. The book provides a clear and comprehensive presentation of all basic and most advanced approaches to meta-analysis. This book will be referenced for decades. Michael A. McDaniel, Professor of Human Resources and Organizational Behavior, Virginia Commonwealth University